In a Western Europe beset by invasions and the breakdown of law and order, Pope Urban II launched an army of knights and peasants in 1095 to fight the Turks, who had seized the Holy Land. Michael Foss tells the stories of these men and women of the First Crusade, often in their own words, bringing the time and events brilliantly to life. Through these eyewitness accounts the clichés of history vanish; the distinctions between hero and villain blur; and the Saracen is as base or noble, as brave or cruel, as the crusader. Foss also reveals how the attitudes and prejudices expressed by both Christians and Muslims in the First Crusade became the basic currency used in our present-day conflicts and misunderstandings.